The Nobel Institute announced this Tuesday (9) the cancellation of the press conference which would be given this week by María Corina Machado, leader of the Venezuelan opposition. The move increases doubts about whether this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate will be able to travel to the European country to participate in the ceremony where she will receive the prize.
María Corina, 58, was banned from traveling by Nicolas Maduro’s regime. In November, Venezuela’s attorney general told the AFP news agency that the opposition leader would be considered a fugitive if she left the country to receive the reward. The institute has not revealed her current whereabouts.
The press conference, initially scheduled for 1 p.m. (local time) this Wednesday (10), was postponed to an unspecified time before being officially canceled. In a statement, the Nobel Institute wrote that María Corina faced difficulties traveling to Norway. Therefore, the organization said it could not provide information on when and how it would participate in the ceremony.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for this Wednesday at Oslo City Hall in the presence of King Harald, Queen Sonja and at least four Latin American presidents, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.
María Corina received the Nobel Peace Prize on October 10 “for her tireless work in favor of the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her fight for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” in the country, according to the organization.
The opponent remains close to sectors aligned with US President Donald Trump, who accuse Maduro of being involved in criminal organizations that would pose a direct threat to US national security – a position questioned by some sectors of Washington intelligence.
After receiving the award announcement in October, Machado dedicated part of the recognition to Trump. The US president himself later said he thought she deserved the award.
María Corina won the opposition primaries for the 2024 presidential election by a wide margin, but was not allowed to run. After the disputed election, which resulted in Maduro’s official declaration of victory, she went underground in August, when the regime stepped up arrests of opponents.
The awarding of the Nobel Prize coincides with the American military mobilization in the Caribbean and the Pacific, where more than 80 people have already died in attacks carried out by American forces against ships allegedly used to transport drugs.
The United States says the offensives, which began in August, are part of operations against drug trafficking, but experts question the legality of the attacks, and Maduro insists the goal is to topple him and seize the wealth of oil-rich Venezuela.
About The Author
